Along with most of the UK, Dorset is set to be affected by rail strikes at the beginning of October as thousands of workers are set to walk out at various rail operators.

At the time of writing, rail strikes are planned for Saturday, October 1, Wednesday, October 5 and Saturday, October 8.

This will affect services for South Western Railway (SWR) and Great Western Railway (GWR) which operate in Dorset.

Train operators are advising customers that do use the rail network on the strike days to make regular checks before they set off.

Bournemouth Echo: Rail strikes will impact on Dorset travel in early October (PA)Rail strikes will impact on Dorset travel in early October (PA) (Image: PA)

Here's all the information you need to know on how trail services from Dorset will be impacted by these October strikes.

Why are the rail strikes happening?

Strikes have occurred over the past few months due to the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef) having a long-running dispute with the Government over pay and conditions.

Back in August the RMT said they were going on strike because of a "below inflation pay offer" being made and negotiations with the Government failing to "produce satisfactory settlement(s)".

Aslef is striking for much the same reason, and it is likely more strikes will be arranged for later in 2022 if an agreement continues to be put out of reach.

How will SWR and GWR be affected by the October rail strikes?

SWR will be running a reduced timetable on October 1 running from 7.15am to 6.15pm with fewer trains that will be a lot busier than usual.

This will include:

  • Two semi-fast trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Basingstoke 
  • Four trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Woking 
  • Two fast trains per hour in each direction between London Waterloo and Southampton Central 

SWR workers will not be taking part in the strike on October 5 and it will "issue information about the service we hope to be able to run" for October 8.

Meanwhile, an "extremely limited" service will be run by GWR on all the strike days, which will start at 7.30am and finish at 6.30pm.

The Gloucester to Weymouth route is the only one that enters Dorset, and will not be operating on October 1.

Meanwhile, the Gloucester route is running on October 5 but will be stopping at Bristol Temple Meads and will not be carrying on into Dorset.

On October 8 GWR say on their website: "The full impact of how train services could be affected by this industrial action is currently being assessed."